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tv   Happening Now  FOX News  November 29, 2012 8:00am-10:00am PST

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martha: the great battle what is being called the highest parking ticket total on record. chicago officials reviewing one woman's bill of more than $105,000 if fines issued for a car left at o'hare airport for three years. she really couldn't find where she left the car, right? she says her ex-boyfriend dumped the car at airport. she shouldn't have to pay for it. it is always his fault. what can i say. bill: use that beeper thing. see you tomorrow. martha: bye everybody, see you tomorrow. jon: right now grand l brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: president obama sitting down for lunch at the white house with his former rival governor romney. more on that next. scientists say they can predict in newborns. we'll tell you what it is. a tire filing smash-and-grab robbery all caught on tape.
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it is all "happening now". jenna: this thursday we're awaiting a big meeting at the white house. we're glad you're with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall? jenna: wonder what is on the menu? jon: i guess we'll find out. president obama making good on campaign promise as he gears up for a sit down with governor romney, the first meeting since the election. the private luncheon set to begin hour and a half from now. white house correspondent ed henry is live. what is on the agenda, ed, do we know? >> reporter: white house officials say this will be a bit more personal. not necessarily a lot of business conducted in terms of fiscal talks and what not. they believe obviously this is the first time they have gotten together not just since the election but since the debate in boca raton, florida, over a month ago. first time they have been face-to-face. this is a long tradition, going back at least to
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john f. kennedy and richard nixon, bury the hatchet. show we have peaceful transitions in this country. i yesterday, asked, jay carney respectfully to open up the meeting to cameras on behalf of the white house correspondents association. respectfully declined. he believe both men had been in front of the public eye, in front of tv cameras over past year. they wanted to take care of business in private, if you will. one thing might be on the agenda, the fact that at his news conference a couple weeks back the president said something he respected about mitt romney how he turned around the olympic games. he thought some of that could be used to help make government more efficient. there is a big debate going on about government spending, wasteful spending. maybe he will enlist mitt romney for a initiative along those lines. jon: talk about government spending, we've got that fiscal cliff coming up january 1. might this conversation somehow be used to make some progress on that? >> reporter: it could
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because of the fact the other person on mitt romney's schedule today is congressman paul ryan, the house budget chairman. of course was his running mate back during the campaign. paul ryan has a key role in these budget talks of course as well. where they stand, a short time ago vice president biden went to a local costco here in washington, d.c., proclaimed himself optimistic they would get a deal. the fact of the matter yesterday, erskine bowles, a key player as well, saying he is slightly pessimistic. he says there is 2/3 chance they will go off the fiscal cliff. that is not what the markets want to hear, jon. jon: not at all. ed henry at the white house. if jay carney relents and let you into the meeting give us a shot. we'll be on air. >> reporter: i will give you a copy of the menu. jon: please do, thanks. jenna: we'll forget about politicians just for a moment. i promise we'll return there surely over the next couple hours. let's talk about some renewed private sector pushing to really slash the federal budget.
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a group called citizens against government waste is calling for nearly $2 trillion in cuts the next five years. doug mckelway is live with the story. doug, how realistic is that goal? >> reporter: how realistic is the goal? not realistic at all. let's be honest about this. at least it is a benchmark we can strive for. citizens against government waste went through the federal budget, they identified $392 billion in cuts. $1.8 trillion in cuts over next five years. which totals 11% of the federal budget, none which touches the most controversial issues of entitlement spending or health care issues. in addition to that they found just as the gao in a report commissioned by senators coburn and sessions tremendous amount of redundancy, overlap, federal spending which amounts to $400 billion. but few expect those cuts to be made. given the obama victory on november 6th, democrats
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sense they have somewhat of a mandate to increase taxes on wealthy as we all heard. you hear much less about cutting government spending. to make matters worse, citizens sense government waste, congress, especially senate where most members are committee chairman or subcommittee chairman are inate bias against cutting government spending. this is tom schatz. >> they don't want to give up power, jurisdiction or the money. it is also a lot easier for members of congress to run back home and say i'm fixing this problem by spending money. i'm not fixing the problem by solving the problem, and providing the benefits that people need. >> reporter: cutting spending and attending to constituent needs are often very much in conflict, jenna. jenna: we heard a lot of different strategies, haven't we, doug, the ways to tackle the debt and deficit. is there any alternative that really exists besides cutting government waste and spending? >> reporter: one potential avenue they could take would be to actually
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fall off the fiscal cliff. that would necessarily make the difficult choices that congress and white house seem unwilling to make. tom schatz says that congress has a very typical way they approach these kinds of spending cuts. here he is again. >> with overlap and duplication is the proclivity in washington to create a program to solve a problem. something's wrong. we're not doing it right. we're falling behind in science and math. let's create five new programs. that has been the approach. >> reporter: as we speak treasury secretary tim geithner is meeting behind closed doors with the white house point man on congressional affairs with senate majority leader harry reid. perhaps we'll learn more about what kind of spending cuts the democrats are proposing after that meeting is done. jenna, back to you. jenna: we'll talk a little more about that now, doug. thank you very much. jon: yeah. let's go behind the scenes of the talks to avoid the fiscal cliff.
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it seems the framework for a deal actually might be taking shape. if so, what will it look like? david drucker has been nosing around a little bit. the associate politics editor at "roll call." when you hear senators and speaker of the house come out and talk it doesn't sound like they're all that close, david. are you optimistic? >> well i'm sort of on the fence here, jon. whenever you hear members of congress talk about any kind of fiscal cliff deal you have to approach it with a sort of believe everything and believe nothing attitude. i think that everybody wants to avoid having taxes go up for all americans as of january 1st but everybody has a price for that. and it, to me, it's about whether or not both sides are looking for a win-win deal, meaning, my opponent wins and i win. or whether both sides or one of the sides are looking for a deal where only i win and you lose and on top of all
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of that then we have to look at what do they want to include in any sort of deal? are we going to address entitlement reform? are we going to cut spending? are we only trying to deal with the tax cut issue? will we try to address the debt ceiling issue? so there are a lot of moving parts here. jon: it seems the campaign promise of the president to raise taxes on couples making over $250,000 a year, it seems like that almost has to come true in some form for the president and the democrats to swallow a deal? >> i think so. i think the president has been committed to this from the beginning of his political career. he campaigned on it in his re-election run. and he won and he made it very clear that's what he wants to happen. and democrats have been after this for years. they're about as committed to raising taxes on this level of income iners as -- earners as republicans are to preventing such a tax increase. for republicans, it has been
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about are they offered something that allows them to sell this? for republicans there are a couple of considerations. they don't want to get blamed if everybody's taxes go up. that could be politically problematic. but they can't afford to appear they're rolling over and getting anything they want. they have the house majority. they don't want the base of support to feel they didn't fight anything. because the campaign fund-raising dollars could dry up. everybody in the house faces a primary next year. whether or not they a tough opponent or not is on the table. there are so many considerations. jon: so if these talks fail, and we go over the fiscal cliff, do both sides share in the blame equally? >> i don't think so. i think it is likely that the house republicans and even senate republicans, even though they're in the minority in the senate are going to get more of the blame but it depend on what kind of view you're taking here if you're a republican. i don't think it would be wise for them politically to
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take just any deal to avoid political blame for the fiscal cliff because it could cause them more internal problems looking ahead to 2014. and if you're looking from a philosophical point of view where substantively republicans believe in things and think certain things are better for the economy and the country, they will be in a weaker position to achieve any of those things. but they have to take into the consideration the idea that everybody's taxes will go up january 1st if there is no deal. it is not going to be all on the president's shoulders. in fact most of might be on theirs temporarily and for good. they have to decide what is the better position. and you know, will the president and the democrats offer them something that they really should take, significant spending cuts? some kind of significant entitlement reform? those are kind of things republicans have been after for a long time. even though there would be grumbling about tax increases on certain income level, that is something they could take home and really savor. this depends where it goes, the brinkmanship continues.
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david drucker from "roll call." thank you. >> thanks a lot. jenna: well now we turnover seas where we have some new information today on what some say could really be a turning point in the syrian uprising. we're learning rebel fighters are making significant gains. for the very first time are shooting down regime attack aircraft with surface-to-air missiles. conor powell live in the jerusalem bureau with more. >> reporter: jenna, for much of the past two years during this war the syrian air force has controlled the skies over syria. they have pounded rebel positions, killing civilians and rebel fighters. throughout the course of this nearly two-year long conflict. it is one of the key reasons the assad regime is still in power. something seems to be changing in syria because the last 24 hours rebels shot down two syrian aircraft. one hell copper and one jet plane. now in the past the rebels
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have been able to shoot down helicopters but this is the first time they shot down a jet plane and there are reports rebels have access to some type of new anti-aircraft weapon. possibly shoulder to air missile. it is not clear where they got it from or how many they have. some speculation may be that they confiscated it from the syrian military when they took over syrian bases in northern syria. it is also possible that outside countries like qatar or turkey actually supplied these weapons to the syrian rebels especially since it takes some training and some practice to fire a missile and take a plane out of the air. there is some speculation this is from outside sources as opposed to an internal confiscation of syrian military weapons. now either way this is a real game-changer in syria because the assad regime has had control of the skies. it is a powerful force and the main reason why the assad regime is in power and continues to hold onto
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power. if the rebels can begin to take out advantage the assad regime has in terms of air power it will significantly boost the morale and the fire power of the syrian rebels, possibly allowing them to advance further and further towards damascus. just in the past few minutes, jenna, we're hearing that syrian rebels have begun to shell the international airport in damascus. that is a first as well. so there does seem to be some shifting of the ground in syria just in the past 24 hours or so, jenna. jenna: fast-moving news at that. we actually got reports into our newsroom, just reports at this time, that the authorities in syria, assuming that there still the assad authorities there, are shutting down the internet, mobile services, land lines. so this also kind of coming after this latest news about new weapons that the rebels might have. certainly a lot to watch in syria. conor, back to you as news develops. thank you so much. jon: a shooting victim
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wanders for miles in search of help. part of his journey is caught on tape. more on this amazing story of survival to share with you. researchers say predicting a child's risk for obesity is as easy as new study.e. we'll have details on it coming up even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] woer what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relf ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.
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jenna: welcome back, everyone. we're just learning about a recent study that suggests it is possible to predict a child's risk for obesity at birth. the authors of the study says it doesn't take that much to figure it out. john roberts live in atlanta with more for us. >> reporter: jenna, a few simple parameters you plug into the internet within 80% accuracy level the potential for your newborn infant to become obese. that is a huge problem in this country. 17% of children are obese. tripled in the last three decades. here is all you need to v it is very easy. the parents body mass index which you calculate online.
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child's weight at birth. number of people in the household. whether or not mom smokes and mom's profession. why? look at one scenario. take a couple of people. parents with a body mass index of 24. high side of normal. two family members. she doesn't smoke. birth weight of the child is 8.8 pounds. mom is professional or entrepreneur. probability for that child to become obese, 2.21%. watch, if you change mom to profession to unskilled, apprentice or unemployed, it skyrockets to 15.1%. what if mom smoked. different parameters. maternal bmi 30. borderline obese. two members of the household. mom is skilled manual worker. same birth weight of the child. 35% probability that child will become obese. if mom smokes it jumps up to 50%. these parameters definitely differ for any parents out there and child's birth weight as well. plug them into the calculator and get your potential. to find the formula for this
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scientists looked at 4,000 people over 25 years in finland. they say socioenvironmental factors were much more accurate predictor of potential to become obese, jenna, than genetic risk factors were. jenna: what is the practical application for all this? what does this information help us do? >> reporter: right now you really can't tell a child is becoming obese until age 3 or 4. the die if you will has already been cast. this would allow pediatricians or parents to know much earlier whether the child is on the track. the professor from the imperial college in london who came up with this calculator said the early he have the better. listen. >> we think intervention should be from the first days or months of life and there are some advices that can be done for the mothers to try to prevent the development of obesity. >> reporter: now this of course wouldn't be a parent just acting alone but in conjunction with the
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pediatrician develop some strategies to make sure that child doesn't become obese. we have the calculator for you on foxnewshealth.com. we should point out, jenna it ask for your infant's birth rate in kilograms. take the weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2 before you plug in the number. it is all very interesting and fascinating and folks here at fox are plugging in the numbers you wouldn't believe. jenna: foxnewshealth.com. john, thank you. >> reporter: thanks, jenna, scientists make a major discovery finding what could be the most massive black hole ever. we'll tell you where it is located and why might not be alone. we're live with the breaking news desk with that. also gun sales and black friday, a surprising connection to share with you. that's next
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jenna: we have this fox news alert that has something to doith iran and something else to do with the u.n. nuclear watchdog group called the iaea. just for some context here earlier this week we told you members of the iaea, which is the nuclear watchdog group for the u.n., getting their e-mails and information hacked. all signs pointed that iran was behind that. we also reported to you yesterday that the associated press has a diagram from supposedly inside iran that showed iran wanting to develop a nuclear weapon that would be three times as powerful as hiroshima. today what we're getting crossing on the wires right now the united states effectively set a march deadline for iran to start cooperating with the iaea and let the inspectors into the country for full access. the united states diplomat says if they do not do this, if iran does not start cooperating they are going to recommend that the u.n. security council take this
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up. now what that means and whether or not that is a credible threat to get iran to start working with this group is a big question. time will only tell. the timeline is of the utmost importance as we know, as we continue to watch iran and reports out of iran that they're moving towards a nuclear weapon, a claim they deny by the way. but much more on this news throughout the day. iran march deadline the u.s. says for iran to start agreeing and compromising a little bit with the u.n. watchdog group and the nuclear agency. jon, you have more breaking news now? jon: that's right, jenna. according to the reuters news agency and several local reports former u.s. president george h.w. bush is in methodist hospital in houston right now. in fact, ktrk television in houston is reporting that he has actually been there for six days to be treated for bronchitis. we're told the bronchitis has been handled but he has a lingering cough.
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george h.w. bush was born june 1924. if i am doing my math correctly it means he is 88 years old now. there of course his wife, former first lady bash a bush. he is always very vigorous. remember him parachuting i believe it was his 80th birthday. he was the youngest aviator in the u.s. navy back during world war ii. george h.w. bush, being treated for bronchitis at a houston hospital now. we certainly wish him a speedy recovery. jenna: more on all that breaking news as we get it. in the meantime some new information on, well, an out of this world discovery. rick is live in our new york city newsroom discovery. >> reporter: out of that world is a little bit of an understatement, jenna. scientists are excited about a new finding because it is a new way to think about black holes. we'll talk about exactly what they are in a moment. this is the biggest black hole. researchers say 14 times bigger than any other that has ever been found.
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think of our sun and multiply that by 17 billion. that is how big this black hole is. the scientists say they were so stunned when they found it they thought they messed up somehow. they took another year to measure using different instruments to make it sure it was right. according to nasa's website, is a place where gravity pulls so much that light can't get in. we can't see them because they're invisible. university of scientists at austin in texas use special telescopes for their work and rely on pictures from the hubble space telescope which was launched in 1990 and is still in orbit. the findings are published in the journal, "nature." if we have any future explorers watching a journey to this black hole is 250 light years away. jenna: tough to get a live shot. >> reporter: don't think we could get a satellite feed.
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jenna: where there is a will there is a way some day. rick, thank you. jon: that is a good thing it is a long way away given the gravitational pull. from black holes to black friday millions of americans hit the stores in search of great deals of everything on their list including guns. the fbi says demand for new firearms was so high on black friday it had a little trouble getting up with all the background checks required. anna koiman is live from randolph, new jersey with more on that story. [gunfire] >> reporter: good morning to everybody and hope, fflt bi says on black friday, about 155,000 calls for background checks. that broke last year's record of about 129,000 calls. in fact the fbi is saying they even experienced brief blackout periods and had to quit taking calls which hurt the bottom line of some gun shop owners including the ones here in randolph, new jersey. [inaudible]
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busiest shopping day of the year. now the reason for the surge in the sales in guns? some gun shop owners attribute it to politics and mother nature. lawmakers might soon enact gun control laws. across the northeast residents want to protect thems following superstorm sandy. >> since the election you have had the perfect storm. you had hurricane sandy. you had re-election of barack obama. you have people realizing not only is it their second amendment right but they may be in a situation where they need a firearm to protect themselves. they're coming to the realization. it is just caused up tick and a spike. last friday on black friday it was through the roof. >> reporter: according to gallup 43% of women surveyed last year report owning a gun which is a new high. the nra is reporting that over the last four or five years there has been exponential increase in women participating in safety programs and licensing programs and
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hunting programs. women feel safer knowing how to use guns. i can tell you some of the gun shop manufacturers are starting to market more toward women. you see the pink series what i'm wearing here and the long rifles and some are for breast cancer awareness. jon, back to you. jon: anna koiman live at a gun range in new jersey. interesting. anna, thank you. jenna: a new washington guessing game shaping up over who will replace outgoing secretary of state hillary clinton. at least one possible nominee is keeping a very low profile. we'll tell you about that coming up. plus flash floods, mudslides and feet of snow. we'll tell you who is bracing for some severe winter weather and it may not be who you think it is twins. i didn't see them coming.
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call the number on your screen or go online and let lifelock protect your identity for 60 days risk-free. because during the holidays, keeping your identity protected means keeping your family protected. jenna: an update on that fox news alert about former u.s. president george h.w. bush being admitted to a hospital in houston. we hear this according to local reports for a lingering cough. the former president, 88 years old apparently has been in the hospital for as long as seven days because of this lingering cough and this bronchitis. the chief of staff telling "the houston chronicle" saying this condition is not life-threatening but certainly something we want to share with you. dr. manny alvarez from the fox news medical a-team is here. when you hear this 88 years old, bronchitis, several days in the hospital. what comes to your mind? >> bronchitis can turn into
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pneumonia. that is the conservative treatment the doctors are doing, making sure whether it is, whether it is viral, probably it is, it doesn't turn into pneumonia. pneumonia becomes an infection of the lungs. it impedes oxygen ages and can lead to trouble down the line. they're monitoring making sure the cough is going away. that there is no inflaymation. follow him with x-rays that there is no fluid buildup. that vital signs are stable. if they feel this is just bronchitis and beginning to resolve ultimately he will be able to go home in a couple of days. jenna: we're seeing footage of course of the former president. dr. manny we're working to confirm details with the former president's team so we get all the information we need. what questions would you have if you were able to speak to family members, for example? >> whether or not he is oxygenating well.
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whether or not he is holding blood pressure. whether or not he is able, doesn't have any oxygen assistance, things like that. those are the key. in the 88 category, even though the president has had a very good health record in the past and he has been very, he has been very active, you know the body sometimes when you get a very, large infection in the lungs, really can do a lot of damage. and that is exactly where you want to be. you want to make sure you don't miss any kind of process and you treat anything that is going on and hopefully this will resolve. he probably got a cold. probably a little bit of a virus infection and this turned into chronic bronchitis. what they're trying to prevent it doesn't become pneumonia. jenna: we'll watch for that. when you say oxygenating you mean to take a full breath? >> breath and doesn't require oxygen to supplement his function. that's it. i think in the couple days we'll see the president out
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of the hospital. jenna: we certainly will hope for that. seven days according to the local report again of the as we get more information we'll share that with our viewers. dr. manny, thank you very much. >> you got got it. jon: all kinds of speculation now who president obama will nominate to be the nation's top diplomat. as you know secretary of state hillary clinton is stepping down at the end of president obama's first term. on the short list u.n. ambassador susan rice as well as massachusetts senator john kerry. rice is making the rounds on capitol hill these days meeting with lawmakers who are critical of the comments that she made about the terror attack in benghazi that killed four americans. those meetings did not go very well or so it would seem from the comments from senators afterwards. senator kerry seems to be taking a different approach, staying out of the spotlight. asking supporters not to overtly lobby on his behalf. who is likely to get the job? angela mcglowan, fox news political analyst, marjorie clifton a arm toer consultant with the obama
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campaign and principal with clifton consulting. interesting thing, if there are to be, let's say president obama nominates susan rice and she is said to be his first choice. the guy who leads the hearings on the foreign affairs committee would be senator kerry. >> yeah, no, it is the irony of it all. kerry strategy staying under the radar probably is a good one. the only thing i think would be a barrier to susan rice's nomination would be the benghazi coverage one could argue is pretty unfair given all she did read a unified statement by all the national security entities. you have to look who she is and what this means for the good of the country. that is why we sort of to set politics and issues aside. she bring as 21st century approach to foreign policy. one that is in step with president obama. she also has a great deal of passion for human rights and human dignity. what john kerry has passion for nobody is really sure.
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he is kind of a vanilla buy. she understands issues of poverty and pandemic and how though pray into national security and foreign policy. jon: on the other hand, senator mccain says, john kerry came within a whisker of being president of the united states, angela. senator mccain went on to say this, i would love to hear him make necessary case. i don't have anything in thinks background like the tragedy in gaziano that would make me carefully examine the situation. >> it is doing susan rice. if kerry is the nominee he would have smooth sailing through. in washington these are friends behind the scenes. if susan rice is nominee we'll have partisan politics. we have the liberal mainstream media already bashing republicans, some calling them racists and sexist in the fact they won't support susan rise because the fact she is a black woman. it is not about race. it is about benghazi.
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she went on the air and she lied. now she is trying to backpedal and not helping her case at all. >> but what i will say, you had condoleezza rice, she was confirmed by the senate 85-13. and what democrats said, this is at a time where she was under a lot of scrutiny for the war, bringing us into a war we didn't feel we had reason to be there -- >> she didn't lie about anything, my dear. she didn't. >> let's be fair was susan rise did read a statement. something frankly if anything fingers need to be pointed would go to hillary clinton that security fell into her lap. that was not susan rice's responsibility at that time. >> marjorie, in essence susan rice was a good foot soldier for the administration. i admire her, rhodes scholar. she is very experienced lady but going before the senate for confirmation you know it is going to be partisan politics. games will race card will be played and female card will be played. black caucus and women's
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caucus are on ready to protect her. >> what does this mean for the good of the country though? president obama having someone in the same way that democrats got behind condoleezza rice's nomination, saying look our president needs to have someone they are in tune with, and good for them and their cabinet. if susan rice is that woman, i think it should be, woman thing, funny thing, madeleine albright talk about how their grandkids and grandchildren didn't know a man could be secretary of state. interesting madeleine albright was u.n. ambassador before she became secretary of state. there is something to the experience i think -- >> the country, jon, the country is already healing from the racial division that was used in this election. i don't believe that we should have to go through it again because that's what they're going to do. they're already starting. al sharpton's radio program did a whole segment on susan rice yesterday, talking about white republicans don't want this lady to be secretary of state. jon: talking about the last election, i want to throw this question at marjorie first.
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we essentially heard from the obama campaign that mitt romney wasn't qualified or shouldn't become president because he is a rich white guy from massachusetts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. i guess that disqualifies you from the presidency but okay to make you secretary of state, marjorie? >> apparently. i don't know. i find -- again i think john kerry is qualified. the question is are they going to bring the passion? are they going to bring extra charisma needed into the role? the funny thing arne duncan was rumored to be nominated. more likely he would become a stripper than secretary of state. >> jon huntsman name has been thrown around as well. jon huntsman. so yeah, but susan rice again, i think that obama is going to nominate her and it is rumored that john kerry might be secretary of defense. jon: we're going to leave it there. we'll see. it is the president's choice to make. >> that's right. jon: we'll see which choice he does make. thank you both, marjorie clifton, angela mcglowan. >> thank you. jenna: speaker boehner talking about this morning
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so far, met with treasury secretary tim geithner, all of this having to do with the fiscal crisis and what would happen. what will become of these negotiations between republicans and democrats. we'll take a listen to the speaker a little bit here before we go to break. you can watch the entire remarks by the way on foxnews.com. let's take a listen. >> -- and protect the middle class from the fiscal cliff. but without spending cuts an entitlement reforms it will be impossible to address our country's debt ace crisis and get our economy growing again and create jobs. right now all eyes are on the white house. our country doesn't need a victory lap, it needs leadership. it is time for the president, congressional democrats, to tell the american people what spending cuts they're really willing to make. with that i will take a few questions. >> speaker boehner, why would you not tell democrats what spending cuts you would like to see -- [inaudible] >> it has been very clear over the last
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year-and-a-half. i've talked to the president about many of them. you can look at our budget. where we outline very specific proposals that we passed in last year's budget and the budget from the year before. we know what the menu is. what we don't know is what the white house is willing to do to get serious about solving our debt crisis. >> [inaudible]. >> listen, i'm not going to get into the details but it is very clear what kind of spending cuts need to occur but we have no idea what the white house is willing to do. >> at this point most, most public statements have been optimistic, confident, hopeful. we're all stepsing a -- [inaudible] are you walking away from talks? have things completely broken down? >> no, no, stop.
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i got to tell you, i'm disappointed in where we are and disappointed in what's happened over the last couple of weeks. the going over the fiscal cliff is serious business and i'm here seriously trying to resolve it and i would hope the white house would get serious as well. paul? >> [inaudible]. >> well, we had a very nice conversation last night. it was direct. and straightforward. but this assessment i give you today would be a product of both of those conversations. >> how much are you open to the idea of discretionary spending cuts as part of a down payment to get to a longer range solution on entitlements? >> there are a lot of options on the table
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including that one. andrew. >> [inaudible]. >> the day after the election i came here and made it clear that republicans would put revenue on the table as a way to begin to move the process to get this resolved. >> [inaudible]. >> revenue is on the table but revenue was only on the table if there were serious spending cuts as part of this agreement. it has to be part of the agreement. we have a debt crisis! we're spending too much. while we're willing to put revenue on the table we have to recognize it's the spending that is out of control.
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>> roughly what size spending cuts do you think you would take to reach a deal and do you think at least the promise of spending cuts has to be included this level of deal at this time? >> well i don't think there's, i don't think it is productive for either side to lay out hard-lines in terms of what the size of the spending cuts ought to be but there is clearly, there are a lot of options on how you could get there but the second part of your question was? >> [inaudible]. >> listen, there's a framework that we presented to white house two weeks ago. the frail work is, has been agreed to in terms of really, a down payment on the end of this year that would include spending cuts and it would include revenue. setting up a process for entitlement reform next year
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and tax reform next year. but, this is way out of balance and not a recognition on the part of the white house about the serious spending problem that we have. >> [inaudible]. >> i'm going to do everything i can to avoid putting the american economy, the american people, through the fiasco of going over the fiscal cliff. >> which is worse though for the -- [inaudible] >> as i told the president a couple weeks ago, there's a lot of things i have wanted in my life but almost all of them had a price tag attached to them and if we're going to talk about the debt limit in this, then there is going to be some
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price tag associated with it. >> last question. >> are you standing by your -- [inaudible] >> i continue to believe that any increase in the debt limit has to be accompanied by spending reductions that meet or exceed it. >> thank you. jenna: speaker boehner in his own words disappointed by the meetings this morning and the prospects apparently of any sort of deal about what to do about this fiscal cliff we've been talking so much about and balance between revenue growth and spending cuts. speaker boehner is saying that there is a lack of recognition in his opinion by the white house about how serious the spending problem that we do have in this country. he wants the spending cuts on the table. charles payne is with us from the fox business network. he is ceo of w street.com. not specific about what spending cuts and where they would come from, charles. in an ideal world where would we cut spending?
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>> in ideal world you cut spending and sacred cows. it would have to be medicare, social security and medicaid and it would have to be series of reforms made. now listen, we've seen this has gone on for a long time, jenna. the notion that perhaps we would do dramatic tax increases now with the promise of spending cuts 10 to 20 years down road, i'm sure that was the first salvo but republicans certainly drawn a line there. because that never materialized. the general public knows this. i think the stock market knows that. also i think i'm a little concerned about this framework because essentially what they're talking about is kicking the can down the road yet another year. maybe give some short-relief bun the same perpetual problem we've been in for a long time. jenna: we just got a reading on gdp, charles, in one word because i have to take a quick break, what does it he will us about the economy? >> it is a economy built to last but it is extremely
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deceptive. jenna: extremely deceptive. a lot more to get to. thank you for your reaction on breaking news. more breaking nug on president george h.w. bush after the
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jenna: fox news extreme weather alert for you now. parts of the west coast facing severe rain, high winds and threatening to trigger flash floods and mudslides. janice dean in the fox weather center with more. >> this is a big deal, we could get a foot, a foot or more of rain over the next several days. look at impacts. widespread, six to 10 inches. isolated amounts of a foot of rain. easily one to two feet of snow in the sierra. gusts upwards of 80 miles per hour along the coast. this will just linger and were with it continue to
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bring moisture along the northwest to northern california. this system will not only last today but through the weekend. you can already see some of that moisture making its way onshore. the worst of the weather from northern california through oregon up towards washington but central and southern california will certainly get some moisture as well. look at precipitation accumulation through the weekend. look at that. reds and purples indicating 10 to reason 12 inches of rainfall. that will cause massive flooding and unfortunately mudslides. flood advise risz are in -- advisories are in place as we head into the weekend. we have high wind warnings where winds could gust in excess of 80, 80 miles per hour. we'll continue to monitor from the fox news extreme weather center. jenna: a good head's up, jd thanks very much. >> okay. jon: as we told you former president g h.w. bush is hospitalized right now in houston being treated for
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bronchitis. we're told he is recovering nicely. we'll get update from a bush family spokesman next.
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jon: as we have been reporting, former u.s. president george h.w. bush is recovering from a case of bronchitis at methodist hospital in houston. the former president at age 88, the oldest surviving former president in this country. jim mcgrath is a bush family spokesman and joins us now. how is he doing, jim? >> thanks for asking, jon, he's doing a lot better. he was admitted last friday with a case of bronchitis. they were able to successfully treat that piece of it, but he still has a lingering cough, and that and the fact that he's 88, they're just being extra cautious and holding him until the cough gets better. jon: there were concerns it could turn into pneumonia, but that seems to have gone away. >> tankfully, yes. -- thankfully, yes. i guess there's always that
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concern when you're dealing with somebody at that advanced age. but, thankfully, it didn't turn in that direction, and the medication and treatments taye used to get ahold of this bronchitis have worked. jon: well, in fact, there's a picture on the screen right now of bush 41 and bush 43 in the oval office. we understand that bush 43, george w. bush, and his wife laura visited the former president in the hospital. i imagine other family members have been there as well. >> the entire family has rallied to him both in person, neil lives here in houston, of course, mrs. bush has been vigilant in her visitation, she's been by his side constantly. and other family members have checked in by phone regularly. so we're all pulling for him, but happily, it's not life threatening, and we hope to get him out by the weekend. jon: somehow, i imagine barbara bush keeps that medical team on its toes. >> she keeps everybody on their toes. [laughter] she's remarkable, and she's been great, and she's been a constant
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source of strength for him, that's for sure. jon: so my understanding is that the thinking is he will be released this weekend? >> that's the hope, jon. i mean, they're just -- they're being extra cautious. they want to make sure the cough goes away and the fact that he is 88, they're just going to make sure he's in good shape, so when he's released, he's ready to get back to life as himself. jon: been there since the day after thanksgiving, we certainly wish the former president well as he continues to recuperate. jim mcgrath, a family spokesman, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: we'll keep you updated on the former president as we continue to watch our top stories today, welcome to the new hour of "happening now," i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. the benghazi terror attack -- jenna: senators holding another closed door briefing, lawmakers wanting to know what many could have been done to save american lives and get to the bottom of
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the security situation before the september 11th attack. today's briefing follows ambassador susan rice's rounds on capitol hill that we've been watching so closely this week. key republican senators have said they still have problems with her initial explanation of the attack. but, again, this is a new briefing today and potentially some new information. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is life in washington with more. >> reporter: good morning. a key issue was raised, whether ambassador rice has baggage beyond the benghazi talking points, specifically her knowledge of the conditions and requests for more security leading up to the 1998 bombings of the u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania. senator susan collins says these bombings are a carbon copy of what we saw in benghazi in that u.s. ambassadors in east africa at that time requested more security prior to the attacks and they were not fulfilled. >> very troubled by the fact that we seem not to have learned from the 1998 bombings of two of
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our embassies in africa. at the time when ambassador rice was the assistant secretary for african affairs. >> reporter: right now there is that closed door hearing that's going on before the senate homeland security committee. they have five witnesses, and we're hoping to hear from them at the stakeout position after that hearing is over. this is one of a half dozen investigations that are running on capitol hill right now aside from this separate push for a select committee that would bring a lot of these investigative threads together. also we heard this morning from senator joe leishman. lieberman. >> i know there's been a lot of focus onboard rice's sunday morning tv appearances. i'm sure there'll be some questions about that. but i hope we can focus on what i think are the more important parts of our investigation which is, um, what did can our
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government know -- what did our government know and what could it have done before the terrorist attack to protect the lives of the americans who were there. >> reporter: as first reported by fox news, there was an emergency meeting at the consulate in benghazi in august, one month before the attack. they warned hillary clinton's office in washington that they could not sustain a coordinated attack and that there were at least tennis lammist groups or al-qaeda groups in benghazi itself. this cable essentially predicts the way in which these four americans would die. not only was security not increased, but a special security team that was in benghazi was pulled back in between that emergency meeting and the attack itself on the 11th of september. jenna: more information potentially when we get reaction from this closed door briefing, catherine. thank you for the update. >> reporter: you're welcome. jon: there is some shuttle diplomacy underway right now on capitol hill. president obama sending his treasury secretary to try to break the log jam on the fiscal
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cliff. with the deadline rapidly approaching, both sides are hoping to pressure the other into giving up some ground as they hammer out a compromise package of tax hikes and spending cuts. treasury secretary tim geithner meeting with all four party leaders in the house and senate, but instead of sitting down with everybody in one room, geithner is meeting separately with each of them. our chief congressional correspondent, mike emanuel, live on capitol hill right now. what's the latest on those meetings and the secretary's shuttle diplomacy, mike? >> reporter: we heard from speaker john boehner who said that treasury secretary geithner did not come with a substantive plan in terms of spending cuts. we know the republicans were hoping when the treasury secretary came here to capitol hill, that he would have laid out some serious spending cuts because the republicans are saying if we're putting revenue on the table, we need to see some serious spending cuts from the white house. i think it's important to note the difference between what is said in public and what is said in private. these meetings are held in private. in public lawmakers are sounding
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a little tougher. here's the senate majority leader on the senate floor earlier today. >> for four months house republicans have refused to act. instead, they've held the middle class hostage to protect the richest 2% of taxpayers, people who enjoy a decade of ballooning income and shrinking tax bills. >> reporter: so that is the public sentiment from the senate majority leader, blasting the republicans for not passing the tax cuts for the middle class. in private, though, it sounds like a lot of democrats are saying they feel like things are moving along slowly but surely, jon. jon: so that's senator reid's view, what about the republican point of view? what do we know about that? and also i heard something about a vip phone call? >> reporter: that's right. we know the president of the united states and the speaker of the house, john boehner, had a phone call for about 15 minutes last night. speaker boehner described it as cordial, direct and we've heard that, essentially, you know, 15-minute conversation between the president that that gives them a lot of time to talk about
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some things. in public, though, republicans are sounding a little bit more frustrated in trying to force the president to step up. take a listen. >> he's got a responsibility to everyone to work out an agreement, and that means he's got to come up with something that can get through a republican house of representatives. so we're waiting on the president. we can still get there, but he's going to have to lead. >> reporter: so keep in mind there's a lot of tough talk in public, a lot of the important work is being done in private including private conversations, and we are all looking to see for signs of progress, jon. jon: we are, indeed. mike emanuel, keeping an eye on the fiscal cliff negotiations for us there in washington. thanks, mike. jenna: from capitol hill to the white house now, and right now the president is getting ready to host governor mitt romney for lunch. the former rivals will be meeting behind closed doors in a private white house dining room.
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reporters were not invited. jon: oh, gee. jenna: left off that invitation list. jay carney says there's no formal agenda, and we don't know the menu as well. very curious ability what they're serving today n. his victory speech, president obama said he was looking forward to sitting down with governor romney and talking about ways they can move together to move the -- they can work together to move the country forward. he will also meet with his former running mate, congressman paul ryan. jon: vice president joe biden today calling for a middle class tax cut while getting in some christmas shopping as well. mr. biden visited the first costco store to open in washington. we won't tell you what he bought to put under the tree, but the vice president did point out the store was packed with shoppers adding the last thing they need now is a tax hike. >> these are hard working folks who don't need to see their taxes go up, and the truth of the matter is that it's going to
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make a big difference. i mean, costco has hired 260 employees in this new store, part of a sort of a renaissance of a whole neighborhood out here. and the ability of consumers to actually have money in their pocket. jon: vice president biden and his boss, president obama, are pressing congress to extend the middle class tax cuts while they raise taxes on the wealthiest americans. jenna: now we're going to take you overseas where the u.s. embassy in cairo is shutting its doors to the public today as police clash with demonstrators in a new round of violent protests in tahrir square. all this comes as we wait to hear from president morsi who's expected to appear on egyptian television, and it could be his appearance as soon as this hour. steve harrigan's in cairo with more. steve? >> reporter: jenna, the protesters are out behind me for the or seventh night in a row, and as you mentioned, part of the u.s. embassy -- the part that deals with the public and
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visitor -- was shut down today not because the embassy was targeted, but really because of fears of peripheral violence. this whole section of downtown cairo has seen large street protests for the last several days, police and protesters exchanging rocks and tear gas. two buildings on this street were set on fire overnight. those blazes are now out. we are expecting to see egypt's president in a taped television address later today. he'll likely be introducing a new constitution that's being voted on by the assembly now. that constitution can either calm things down here or enflame things further. it really depends what it has to say about the role of islam in people's life in egypt. either way, we're likely to see more street protests. both those who support the president and those who want to bring him down are scheduling protests for friday and saturday here in cairo. back to you. jenna: we'll be watching for that speech, steve. many are concerned that right after he delivers that address or the public hears from it,
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we'll see more violence almost immediately, but we'll wait and watch for that. steve harrigan live in cairo, thank you. jon: if you are watching us from home right now and you called out sick at work today, it might mean that you are one of the lucky powerball winners or. at least two people are splitting that huge jackpot chosen last night. who are they and where were the winning tickets sold? jenna and i are at work today, so that should tell you something -- [laughter] jenna: hint, hint. jon: we have new details. plus, what started this brawl on the basketball court that got both nba players booted from the game. one guy was featured in a reality show. hmm, does that give you a clue? rick folbaum with details coming up. [ male announcer ] this is sheldo whose long day setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day.
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back to the news.
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jenna: welcome back, everyone. have you checked your powerball tickets yet? two of them out there have all
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six lucky numbers. arizona or missouri, those are the states where these tickets, these winning tickets were purchased. however, do not throw away your ticket quite yet, because there could be a bunch of new millionaires today who picked some of the winning digits, you know, not all of them, but just some. a million dollars doesn't sound bad, right? adam houseley has more on this. hi, adam. >> reporter: that's anchor salary numbers right there, jenna, a million dollars, right? [laughter] you know, there are a lot of other winners out there. in fact, we'll get to that in a moment. i want to give you the numbers. people were driving from here in california. if you're in southern california, it's about a five-and-a-half, six-hour drive to arizona, one lady reportedly flew to oregon to get a ticket and then flew back to oakland, california. here are the numbers: 5, 16, 22, 23, 29 and the powerball number is 6. now, we do have some information. if you happen to live in kansas city or near kansas city, 35 miles north specifically in
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dearborn at a convenience store, that is where one of the tickets was sold. one ticket was sold, we don't know if it was sold to
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jenna: plus a live report on new findings from the planet mercury.
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jenna: well, so far there have been few public signs of progress in talks to keep the nation from falling over that fiscal cliff. republicans agreeing in principle on the need to raise revenue, but democrats apparently offering very little in the way of specific spending cuts. house speaker john boehner not
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mincing words moments ago. >> first, despite the claims that the president support ors a balanced approach -- supports a balanced approach, democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts. and secondly, no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the white house and the house over the last two weeks. listen, this is not a game. jobs are on the line, the american economy is on the line, and this is a moment for adult leadership. jenna: well, on the other side of the aisle, senate majority leader harry reid says he's still waiting for, quote, a reasonable proposal from speaker boehner. so while we're all waiting, congresswoman lynn jenkins is a member of the ways and means committee, she's also the new vice chair of the house republican conference, a new leadership position for her. congresswoman, welcome to the show and congratulations on your new role. >> thank you. and thanks for having me. jenna: for some of the viewers you may be a new face, just a
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little background. you grew up on a darely farm in -- dairy farm in kansas, served as state treasurer as well, so you're the perfect person really to talk to about this fiscal crisis. we keep on hearing about these spending cuts and the desire to get specific, but for you, congresswoman, where specifically would these spending cuts come from? >> well, i think the republicans in the house are going to do everything they can to avert this fiscal crisis that we're staring down, and we have proposed a balanced approach. one that puts revenues on the table, but also addresses the real problem in washington, and that's the out-of-control spending. i think people are willing, the american people are willing to put revenue into the federal government if they had some confidence that the lawmakers were spending it properly. but we all know that there is a loot of waste, fraud -- a lot of waste, fraud and abuse we have to address. our autopilot spending programs, first and foremost the medicare
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program, and until the democrats can come forward and be willing to put some of the spending cuts on the table, it's going to be very difficult to move forward. jenna: you know, we hear spending cuts, for example, from medicare, it's easy to let our imagination get the best of us which is why i'm asking for specifics. even now as a lawmaker in d.c., you've mentioned, for example, getting rid of subsidies, for example. can you be more specific for us today about, you know, if we're talking about cuts from medicare, what does that really look like? if it's subsidies, which ones would you get rid of? >> absolutely. the driver of our debt is the medicare program, and the house republicans have a bipartisan proposal on the table that says everyone who is 55 and older -- sets them aside, makes no changes for those people. but for those of us that haven't quite hit that 55 mark, we've got a few years to adjust to any changes. we're suggesting a slight income adjustment for folks that are making a million dollars or more, that they forgo some of
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their benefit and an age adjustment, asking the american people to gradually work a few months at a time more up to two years on their working those two changes are the largest changes, and they make a difference. they make no changes to the current seniors, and it gets us in our house budget, it got the balanced budget which we are all looking for. jenna: those are good specifics for us to take ahold of. we heard a little bit about that during the campaign for president, and the president now has been either complimented or criticized for what some are calling a campaign-style approach to his side of this negotiation. he's really gone out in public, he had these public events, he's talking about social media to try to get the public's favor for the democrats' position. what's the republican response to that? how do you attempt to do the same thing so that the public understands your point of view and you can enlist their favor as well? >> the campaigns are over. republicans are worried about
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solving the problem, and that's why we have proposed spending cuts as well as revenues, something that they've accused us for years of being unwilling to come to the table on. four months ago the house ways and means committee kicked out to the full body which was then passed out of the house of representatives a fundamental overhaul of the tax code, a framework with fast track authority that allows it to get through congress next year. so we feel like we've done our work. at this point we're just waiting for a partner in negotiations to meet us. jenna: sure. yet there's no solution at this time, and a lot of uncertainty for the american people. these challenges are so profound, they're so much bigger than any one of us, and i just wonder in your opinion is party part of the problem here? if you got these same individuals in the same room and stripped away their party affiliation, would we have a solution by now? >> well, i don't know that the parties get in the way as much as some firmly-held beliefs.
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we don't believe the president's proposal to raise taxes by only making a 1% cut is going to do it. he's proposed 5 to 1 tax increases. that's not going to work. i don't know that that has much to do with party as much as it has to do with our fundamental belief on the republican side that the revenue side of the ledger is not the primary problem, it's the out-of-control spending. and until the president and the democrats come to the table, are serious about naming one thing they would cut, one program they would change to get to a balanced budget, it's very difficult to proceed. and so at this point republicans have played their hand, we've laid out the framework. we've got revenues on the table, we've got spending cuts as well as our mandatory spending programs. we just need a partner to negotiate with at this point. jenna: congresswoman, it's a pleasure to have you on the program, look forward to having you back as we go through this process. thank you.
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jon: overseas right now thousands of palestinians are celebrating in the streets ahead of a u.n. general assembly vote that would upgrade their status to a nonmember observer state. but a successful outcome could come at a high price. the warnings from israel and the united states about that possibility next. and an alternative to putting your aging parents in a nursing home. a brand new option in assisted living that lands much closer to home. from local communities to local businesses. the potential of yelp unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. to a currency market for everyone. the potential of fxcm unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential.
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jon: thousands of palestinians are celebrating in the streets of west bank when the u.n. gets ready to whether recognize the palestinian authority as nonmember observer state at u.n. david lee miller live in jerusalem with more on that. >> reporter: jon, in anticipation of this vote the pal steps are indeed joyous. they're not only celebrating on the west bank. they're also celebrating in amass-controlled gaza. they carried with them photos of mahmoud abbas. hamas which previously opposed u.n. vote is now endorsing it. it is expected to pass overwhelmingly. abbas met with officials and turned down the bid for upgraded u.n. status. israel is trying to downplay the scheduled vote. in one week they called it diplomatic terrorism saying
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the move lacks substance. palestinians will be eligible to bring cases such as alleged human rights violations to the international court. u.s. tries to convince european countries to vote no. so far they have been unsuccessful. latest to flop flip-flop official they will now abstain. benjamin netanyahu describes the vote taking place in a few hours as a setback to the peace process. >> only way to achieve peace is through agreements that are reached by parties directly. through direct negotiations between themselves and not through u.n. resolutions that completely ignore israel's vital security and national interests. >> reporter: it is not entirely clear what if any action israel will take after the vote. is ral had discussed idea of very hard sanctions. they're now taking more of a wait-and-see attitude. the bottom line, israel is
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not just looking at the vote but what the palestinians do with it. jon. jon: david lee miller live in jerusalem, thank you. jenna: now to the economy. investors are reacting to some new data we got today. the dow is slightly higher the commerce department is reporting that our economy grew at a pace of 2.7% in the july through september period. that is better than the initial estimate. we have numb another reading after this. this is not the final number. economists are seeing signs the meager growth we experienced last quarter may not be necessarily sustainable jon. jon: weekly jobless numbers are in and they are down. the labor department reporting number of americans trying to get unemployment benefits fell 23,000 to 393,000 last week, the second straight drop after superstorm sandy had driven applications much higher earlier in the month. the labor department is saying the storm had little impact on these numbers.
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jenna: still too high for many investors. even in this tough economy entrepreneurs are carving out a niche, if you will, some sort of innovation. in our spotlight on small business today we are checking out a business that makes granny pods. that is what they're calling them. they're long-term care housing options for the elderly. they are portable and can be set up on the property, in your backyard if you want. units are specifically designed to meet the needs of your loved ones, and are a option some say choosing over nursing homes. that is inside of one of them. we have the president and ceo of the company that makes these so-called grann grannypods. you were featured in an article in the "washington post." that sparked our interest in all this. what is exactly inside a grannypod? >> first of all it is a portable dwelling, jenna. inside is much what you think of technology and assisted living technology you would find in a nursing home room or a hospital room
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except it is in this little apartment that is close to your family. what our company is about, it is about what we call family-managed care. it is connecting family once again to this time of care in people's lives. that is how we think of it. >> you have and really interesting background. where did this idea come from? >> well, about seven years ago i was working on a ph.d in international development. as i was traveling throughout the world i begin to notice how differently other cultures took care of aging people, how they saw aging. i began to ask myself why it was so different in the other countries than it was here in the united states. and so as i looked at this, as the end of one's life everywhere else in the world you basically come back into the family and it is a place of great esteem, of great prestige, but i didn't see that happening here in the united states. and so we begin to research why. one of the things that we came up with was, the fact that there were not a lot of good options to families
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participating in the care of loved ones. we began to look at different things and came up with this one which is called the med cottage. we're excited about to reconnect people. jenna: how much do these med cottages cost and how many have you sold? >> we are just at what you call, proof of concept and the one in the "washington post" is about, maybe 10 miles outside of washington and that one is the ultimate model and it costs about $125,000. but depending how you needed it outfit could cost anywhere from 55,000 to a two-person one that costs about 75,000. if it is intensely medical it is much more expensive. jenna: very interesting idea, ken. we look forward checking back in with you to hear how the company is going. thank you for your time. >> thank you, jenna, very much. jenna: dr. manny. >> i love it. i want one of those things for my house. jenna: maybe make it for husbands and wives.
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>> that's right. when you get mad throw you out of the house you can move in there. i think this is very important. 72 million americans will be over the age of 65. we know difficulties in many places with assisted living, nursing homes. the issues of safety. and i think a lot of families want to have their loved ones around. i think from a health perspective not only do you save some dollars doing something like this but also, that active management. in other words, having your mother, your father, your grandparents, with you, learning about their ageing process. you learn a lot. and you can prevent, i think a lot of issues like falling down and, you know, bed sores and things like that, that debilitate older folks as they get more older. jenna: just depression isolation from your family. >> absolutely. the concept is great. it is a little costly, i know that. jenna: a little context about costs. we were doing costs when you do a living facility. >> right.
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jenna: the average is around $87,000, between 75,000 and $85,000. >> yeah. jenna: ken told us from $50,000 to over 100,000. >> exactly. jenna: seems comparable. >> so i think the cost is really --. jenna: on those other facilities you have nurses on call and doctors on call. in this you don't really have that. is that a concern? >> listens like in the state of virginia this is originating from the state is recognizing this as a portable hospital room. and i think, as you move forward a lot of these states may look at this say, look, this is a temporary hospital bed. and it is going to benefit from, let's say having visiting nurse services and a lot of these new technologies allow physicians to dial in and call in through a computer monitor and see how their patient is doing. zoo technology is there. if the states move along and say, you know what? our hospitals are overcrowded, our nurses homes are overcrowded.
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this is great solution. it saves money and better care for the patient and families are happy, i think this will be, i want one. i'm telling you. i want it, absolutely. jenna: grannypod. i like the name. dr. manny, thank you very much. jon? jon: i want one too. jenna: we'll get both of you. that is easy for christmas i guess. >> we'll move in together, jon. jenna: i don't know about both of you. jon: looks like fun. new pot smoking laws giving some folks in some states supposedly the right to light up. that doesn't mean it is okay with your boss. the new law could cause a problem with your jobs but there is caveat for union members. if you can't drive 55 or whatever the speed limit is we have a story that might just slow you down.
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jenna: we have a quick look for you, really quick look of governor romney arriving at the white house moments ago for his lunch meeting
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with the president. you see him pulling up in the suv and quick look into the white house. private dining facility silts they have president and governor romney. we don't know what they're eating or anything about the conversation but surely we'll learn a little more this afternoon. he said on the night of the acceptance speech he would meet with mitt romney and that is what he is doing right now. jon: on the department of being careful what you wish for, new laws allow pot smoking but a lot of folks could lose their jobs as well. dan springer live from seattle with that report. >> reporter: pot smokers in washington state and colorado may be in for a rude awakening. they can smoke pot legally in their homes but get fired if they fail a drug test. the reason is simple. marijuana is still classified as an illegal drug under federal law and courts upheld the right of businesses to have a drug-free work place. still business owners are worried because they feel it will make it harder to hire
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workers and drive up their legal bills when they fire employees. medical experts say the high from smoking pot lasts about two to three hours but the drug can still be detected in the system for up to a week. one of the gray areas though is how long the person stays impaired. a doctor told me reaction times can be slowed for up to 24 hours. it could be a major liability for business owners. >> you put a small business owner right in the middle of a vice, of government requires you to do this, state law requires that, and you're stuck in the middle. >> reporter: then there is the issue of union workers playing by a whole different set of rules by everyone else. union lawyers say pot should be treated just like alcohol. if it is smoked legally in the home and does not affect job performance there should be no discipline. because they go through arbitration instead of the regular court system they have had success when it comes to getting members fired over medical marijuana. >> we would vigorously
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defend our members rights to engage in legal, off-duty conduct that has no impact on their jobs. the burden renn would be on the employer to show there is in fact impact on the job. >> reporter: so it looks like the real winners are the lawyers who figure to get a lot of work. jon? jon: lot of messes ahead or so it would seem. >> reporter: absolutely. jon: dan springer, thank you. jenna: well, if you consider the posted speed limit as more of a suggestion than a rule here is a cautionary tale for you. a new program in seattle is catching 6,000 speeders in less than a month. cameras near just four schools in the city nabbing folks driving faster than 20 miles an hour in those school zones. and now that the tickets are going into the mail. all those lead foots will be facing a fine of $189. and because so many tickets have to go out, officials say they're extending citation period for more but they mean business in seattle. no speeding in school zone. jon: i hate those cameras. i do. jenna: why, jon?
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you always drive the speed limit. jon: i do. new york city has them and various places. i hate them. jenna: tell us how you really feel, jon scott. jon: brand new findings from a far away planet. we're talking about mercury. in a little while nasa will reveal new details what its spacecraft messenger is finding as it orbits that little planet. rescuers on mount hood find a missing climber who government lost during the summit snowstorm. how i told authorities where they could find him. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that.
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[ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula.
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jon: this next story, a reminder it is always good to keep your cell phone on you and charged even when mountain climbing. rick is here with more on that.
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>> reporter: maybe especially when mountain climbing, jon. because of a cell phone that search-and-rescue crews were able to find a climber who stranded himself right in the middle of a snowstorm. 30-year-old jeff kish is his name. spotted just before midnight last night near a crater not far from the summit of mount hood in oregon. he reached the summit early yesterday. he was on his way back down when all of a sudden the storm came in, whiteout conditions. luckily he had the cell phone on him. he was able to call for hope. he posted his gps coordinates on his face book page. one of the messages reading, got stuck in a storm on the summit of mount hood. he posted messages until his cell phone battery died. the portland mountain rescue team traveled by snow cat to a ski lift that took rescuers to his location. he was cold, wet but otherwise okay. let that be a lesson to you, next time you go mountain climbing and maybe even a spare battery. why not? jon: i wonder if he gets
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billed for a rescue? >> that has happened before, you're right. jenna: well the name mercury means messenger to the gods and right now we're awaiting details about the planet mercury from nasa's spacecraft appropriately named messenger. it was been orbiting the small planet since last march. nasa will hold a news conference with its findings. phil keating live from the miami bureau with there. phil? >> reporter: nasa is very excited about the 2:00 eastern time announcement about the polar regions about the planet closest tote sun. that is the terrestrial rock planet of mercury. scientists on earth long suspected ice is possible at the two polar regions of mercury. a spokesman there in nasa tells me that nasa will declare definitive confirmation what is on and is in the polar regions. the mercury messenger is the first spacecraft to orbit mercury having launched from
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florida eight years ago, slingshot off venus's gravity twice to land in march of last year. mapping of mercury's entire surface which has never been done and study the magnetic field. scientists believe either meet recordites carrying eyes slamming into the planet or planetary gas on the planet could have put the ice there on mercury in the first place. the way ice could stay on mercury would be on the poles or deep craters or trough where direct sunlight never penetrates. mercury's orbit is so that the planet orbits very slowly only two times in the orbit al year. those regions could create cold traps keeping the ice from melting. this is on a planet so close to the sun, the sun is actually 11 times brighter there than it is for us here. jenna? jenna: wow, imagine that. >> reporter: something to think about. jenna: definitely to think about, thank you.
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jon: think of your famous outlaws, "thelma & louise", bonnie & clyde. how about cast par and razzie, going through a jaunt in the treats of new york city. there they are. can you see them? more on their adventure. plus these are two males but what would it look like if a pony and zebra had a baby? the picture for real coming up.
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i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs.
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to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral to see a specialist. so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare... and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans
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help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. jon: as cow know, jenna, here in new york city you can see some of the strangest things, but maybe not in this every day, a zebra giving chase to a pony. the animals made their escape from a petting zoo, guy working at a store nearby fired up his cell phone to catch this video. they were quickly captured and reunited with their owner. the city says owning seep rahs as pets is not allowed in new york, but they are okay for petting zoos, so the city's investigating whether the owner should be in trouble here. jenna: since they look

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